It's raining woes for soya farmers

The southwest monsoon, which usually brings cheer to the agriculture sector, has left the soya industry in a quandary. Persistent rains since July 4 have restricted sowing this year and thus the acreage may not increase.

Indore-based Soyabean Processors Association of India (Sopa) has confirmed that soya sowing in the state is yet to be completed. Sopa is the only independent body in India that estimates soya crop. It is unlikely that acreage will go down.

The Madhya Pradesh government has not yet come up with any data on sowing but a statement released on June 28 said seeds have been sown only in 6 lakh hectares for kharif crop, which is only 7 per cent of the estimated 107 lakh hectares. Last year, soya acreage was estimated at 4.445 lakh hectares.

"Despite rains, crop estimation would only be possible after one week since sowing has not been completed," said Rajesh Agrawal, Sopa spokesperson. He added, "According to conservative estimates, about 70 per cent of the area has been sown. Farmers are waiting for the rains to abate. If they complete sowing, acreage may go up. We are expecting acreage to touch more than 45 lakh hectares."

Sopa has not observed any shift this season. "Farmers have fetched good prices this year and there is no chance of their shifting from soya to other crop," said Agrawal.

Data collected by Business Standard from various sources shows that eight districts of the state have received excess rainfall, 15 normal while 19 have received deficient rainfall in the June 1-July 4 period. A spokesperson for the Bhopal meteorological department said, "The entire state has received 30 cm of rainfall in this season so far. We are expecting a gap for four to five days. But some parts of Chambal region and north east Madhya Pradesh have received slightly less rain than normal."

However some areas of Raisen district have switched to paddy and scented basmati (Puna variety) of rice, while others in northwest Bhopal, some parts of Sehore and Vidisha districts have shifted to horticulture crops.

Madhya Pradesh, which is known as the Soya Bowl of India, is the leading producer of the commodity with 3.943 million tonnes in 2006-07 (Source: Sopa). Maharashtra is second with 2.39 million tonnes, followed by Rajasthan with 0.493 million tonnes, and 0.315 million tonnes from other states.